Welcome to the Saturday episode of the Grace for All podcast. Thank you for joining us today.

Saturday is a special time when we take a few moments to review the scriptures that we have cited in the episodes this week.

If you missed any of those episodes, you might want to consider listening to them today. And even if you heard them all, there may be one that you might want to listen to again.

We hope that each of these scriptures and podcasts will bring you a full measure of joy, peace, and love.

Now, take a moment to listen to the scriptures that have been on our hearts this week.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

It’s only 8:15 AM, and I have already failed to follow this command! I used angry words and had vindictive thoughts this morning, after listening to something on the news. I was in total disagreement with the sentiment of the newscast, and I felt hopeless to do anything about what was happening. So, I prayed and prayed and prayed. I asked God for MY solution to the perceived issues and begged Him to fix things the way I saw best. I must confess that my solution was NOT loving and was not the way Jesus would have handled the situation, I’m sure.

Realizing this, I stopped in my tracks! I sat down and prayed immediately. I prayed for forgiveness and a change of my heart. I prayed for the people involved in the upsetting news and asked God to comfort and heal us all; to lead us in the way Jesus would handle life’s troubles. It felt good to pray this prayer, and my mind was calmed.

God brought to mind the Great Commandment to LOVE God and to LOVE our neighbor as we LOVE ourselves. I thought of the words of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, who is credited with writing “Watch your Thoughts for they become Words, Watch your Words for they become Actions, Watch your Actions for they become Habits, Watch your Habits for they become your Character, Watch your Character, for it becomes your Destiny.”

Those news headlines that upset me this morning told of the what-ifs all over the world, and my worry gene kicked into high gear. Shel Silverstein warned of the what-ifs in his poem of the same name…

Oh, how we, like Shel Silverstein, let our imaginations run wild sometimes! That’s the most important time to turn quickly to God! If we want to find peace of mind and contribute to the peace the world so desperately needs, we must focus on the central message of Jesus – LOVE GOD and LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS – ALL OF THEM! We must stand firmly with Jesus and make sure all our thoughts, words, and actions reflect the way Jesus told us to live. (And if you are like me, the thoughts might be the hardest to tame!) But with God’s help, we can!

Usually, when I think about God’s blessings, I tend to reflect on all the ways God is pouring love and grace into my life. And while this is true, for God does surely bless us each and every day, Paul, in this letter to the Corinthians, wants us to look at blessings in a different way. Paul says that God is able to provide us with every blessing, not just a little but in abundance, “why?” so that we may share those blessings abundantly.

Another way to say this verse is that we are blessed by God to be a blessing. This makes me ask some hard questions: “How well have I done today, this week, or this month, sharing God’s blessings with those around me?” “When did I, upon thanking God for blessings received, also ask how I was to share them?” When I am honest in answering both of those questions, I must admit that there is room for improvement.

I have all the normal excuses, not enough time or resources, but then I remember that these gifts were given to me from God for this very purpose! And it really doesn’t take much time or material resources to bless others. I think of the stories I recently read. There was one about a boy mowing his elderly neighbor’s yard when he mows his own family’s yard, not for pay, but as a gift. Or, the woman who started going to a care facility when her mother was there, and noticing how many people had no visitors, taking some time to visit with them. She has continued going for a couple of hours each week, even after her mother had died, to be a friend. Recently, I helped at the church, and as the children lined up to get a snack, one young girl said to another, “You go first.” It was a small thing, but her friend’s face lit up with joy.

In this month, when our thoughts are more focused on gratitude and giving thanks to God for all of our blessings, the Apostle Paul reminds us to do one more thing. To not only say thanks to God for the blessings but to ask God to give us opportunities to share those blessings with those around us.

God who blesses us more than we can even imagine, we give you thanks. As your blessings rain down abundantly into our lives, help us to see who we can turn and be a blessing to those around us. Amen.

This devotional was written by Bill Green and read by Joey Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.